


What Lies Within

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic 2020 [58]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fear, Friendship, Gen, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25651609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for Book Titles prompt:any, any, A Demon Inside (Rick R. Reed)In which Malcolm fears the worst and Dani sets him at ease.
Series: Bite Sized Fic 2020 [58]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610332
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	What Lies Within

Dani could only count on a couple hours of sleep between the end of the nightly patrolling and her alarm going off so she could get ready for school. Luckily for her, Slayer powers seemed to include needing very little sleep to function, because someone tapping on her window had her rolling out of bed and assuming a defensive position in the middle of her bedroom. And then she saw who it was.

“Malcolm?” Dani opened the window to let her friend in. “What are you doing here?”

The room wasn’t completely dark, thanks to the streetlight out on the sidewalk below, and Dani could see well in the dark regardless. Therefore, it was easy for her to see that Malcolm was in some sort of distress.

“Malcolm?”

“Do my eyes look normal?” Malcolm asked. His hands were shaking. “Can you check? Please?”

Dani switched on the bedside lamp and wordlessly beckoned Malcolm over. He hesitated for the briefest moment before joining her, his face pale and drawn. He held himself very still, kept his eyes very wide.

Malcolm had pretty eyes, not that Dani would ever say that out loud. Sometimes they were blue, and sometimes they were greyish green, as iridescent as the opals in Dani’s mother’s earrings.

“They look normal,” she said, taking a step back.

Malcolm let out a breath and dropped down on Dani’s bed, head in his hands. 

“I had a bad dream,” he said. “I got up and went into the bathroom, for some water.”

Dani had been to Malcolm’s big house. He had his own bathroom. All the bedrooms in his house had them, like hotel rooms. She couldn’t think of anything more luxurious.

“I could’ve sworn…Just for a second, my eyes looked wrong.”

Dani pulled out her desk chair and sat down. She knew Malcolm worried. His father was a demon, trapped in a magical bubble that kept him contained. Like a mystical prison. Malcolm was half demon – his mother was human – and he lived in fear that one day he’d change, become like his father.

He was terrified that the demon he felt sure was inside him would come out.

“You were half asleep, Malcolm,” Dani said. “You said you just woke up from a nightmare. Your mind was probably playing tricks on you.”

She’d seen a lot of things since coming into her Slayer powers. Weird things. Scary things. But all she saw when she looked at Malcolm was a goofy boy with a big heart and a bigger brain, a misfit like Dani. Not even her Slayer senses could detect an ounce of evil inside Malcolm.

“You think so?”

“I know so.” Dani reached over and patted him on the knee. “Do you want to stay?”

“If that’s okay.”

Dani pulled her sleeping bag out of the closet and set it up next to the bed. She gave Malcolm one of her pillows and turned off the light.

“Thanks, Dani,” Malcolm whispered.

“Get some sleep.” Dani didn’t take her own advice until she heard Malcolm’s breaths even out and slow as he fell asleep. “Sweet dreams.”


End file.
